TOYOTA CANADA - Shell Canada Limited and Canadian Geographic announce the Khiroya family of Calgary, Alberta, got behind the wheel of a new 2012 Toyota Camry and won the Smarter Driver Challenge held in Toronto, the second of two "mini-challenges" held as part of the three-month Energy Diet Challenge. The overall competition is designed to engage Canadians to use energy and water more efficiently in their homes and to make smarter mobility and transportation choices.
"I reduced the amount of fuel I used by applying simple driving tips provided by fuel efficiency experts John and Helen Taylor that every Canadian can apply to their driving," said Ajay, driver of the 2012 Toyota Camry from the Khiroya family that won the Smarter Driver Challenge. "I was able to reduce the amount of fuel I used by more than 32 per cent from my first drive by accelerating smoothly and giving more distance that allowed me to better anticipate traffic."
This past Saturday at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, the six families from across Canada worked with John and Helen Taylor, who have been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most fuel efficient couple, to learn smarter driving techniques. Between them the Taylors hold 89 world records, 43 of which are related to fuel economy.
As part of a demonstration with one of the Taylors behind the wheel and the other alongside in the passenger seat, the couple gave the drivers tips and educated them on how to apply simple techniques to improve fuel economy. Then the contestants competed to see which could achieve the best results driving a new 2012 Toyota Camry.
"It's fitting that the 2012 Camry is the car for this competition because it is a fuel efficiency leader," said Warren Orton, Director at Toyota Canada Inc., who noted the vehicle leads the competition with fuel efficiency numbers of 8.2L/100 km in the city, 5.6L/100 km on the highway, and 7L/100 km combined. "Canadian customers have valued the Toyota Camry for nearly three decades and the 2012 model is the best Camry we've ever made. It builds on Toyota's leadership in quality, safety and sustainability, offering drivers a more attractive and class-above design and a more innovative driving experience."
The Camry offers three powertrain choices, 4-cylinder, V6 and hybrid, all of which have been enhanced for 2012, to provide more responsive performance and the best fuel efficiency among their competitors. The cars used in the challenge have 2.5-litre, four-cylinder engines that deliver 178 horsepower and 170 lb.-ft. of peak torque. The engines employ Dual VVT-I (Dual Variable Valve Timing-intelligent), which controls valve timing on both the intake and exhaust camshafts for the best-possible performance and efficiency at all engine speeds.
Shell attached a device to each of the Camry's onboard diagnostic computers to measure driver performance in fuel consumption and four other key performance areas related to fuel efficiency: idling, engine over-revving, harsh acceleration and harsh breaking. The competitors were evaluated on fuel consumption, key performance results, and on how accurately they answered related skill-testing questions.
Canadians can view all six families' progress in the Energy Diet Challenge and vote once per day for their favourite household at energydiet.canadiangeographic.ca. The site also features tools for users to track their own energy, water and transportation use. The overall Challenge runs until December 4 with the winning family announced shortly thereafter.
Rankings at the end of the Smarter Driver Challenge:
First place: Khiroya family (Calgary, AB), driver Ajay Khiroya
Second place: Belbin family (Nanaimo, BC), driver Grant Belbin
Third place: Kitchen-Kuiack family (Whitehorse, YT), driver Simone Kitchen and Gagnon-Morneaus
(Varennes, Que), driver Bryan Morneau (tie)
Fourth place: Doyle-Beggs family (Saint-Bruno, Que), driver Kimberley Doyle and Mawbys (Osgoode, Ont.) driver Russ Mawby (tie)